Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#561

Post by reitzensteinm » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 3:00 AM UTC

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #555

reitzensteinm wrote: post #549

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Zenbook Pro didn't seem all that different to my 16" Macbook Pro which it clones. The MacBook Pro has cooling issues, an awful keyboard and feels flimsy. The Zenbook had only a pseudo 4k display, a massive charger and a large bezel, although I believe that's gone on newer models. I wouldn't call one premium and the other not. They were both kind of underwhelming.

The M1 Macs (and the Intel generation before it) no longer use Butterfly keyboards, but instead use the earlier "Magic Keyboard" which was well-loved. And the M1 Macs have, let's just say, better thermal management than most laptops now.

Yeah, it's a 2020. It's pretty good considering the key travel limitations, but absolutely awful compared to other laptops I've used that just have more space. Plus the arrow keys...

M1 does shake things up somewhat, and will make an even larger difference at the high end.

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#562

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 3:00 AM UTC

dharmab wrote: post #542

m463 wrote: post #497

Why don't cars (or even pickup trucks) have modular storage? Why isn't there a way to load up your groceries in the store, put them in your car in a modular way, and help you unload them into your house somehow? It could go even further to mini palettes that can be loaded and unloaded automatically. And even electrical cool or cold boxes to keep stuff at the right temperature as you drive home.

I think storage bins/totes and coolers work fine for most people. Throw a folding dolly in there if you want to move them faster. Bed organizers are already a popular addon for pickup trucks, including rolling drawers.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#563

Post by DecoPerson » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 3:01 AM UTC

Protocells.

Self-replicating cells that can be programmed to perform specific tasks.

The first protocells will be bacteria with heavily modified DNA. Eventually, we’ll be able to build fully-artificial self-replicating protocells (more “artificial cell” than “small robot”). Being fully-artificial will help us integrate new tech that nature hasn’t quite discovered/made-full-use-of yet — like different battery techs, RF communication, transistors, etc.

Here’s a good paper exploring the topic: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/5/2/1019/htm

Imagine a blob that could wash along the floor, clearing 100% of detritus and intelligently depositing it — or perhaps even recycling it.

Imagine being able to repair a worn hip joint by injecting then commanding these protocells — no surgery required.

Imagine them self-assembling into structures to transport, deposit and combine material like an advanced 3D printer, building objects to incredible detail, or massive structures quickly, or both: massive structures with incredible detail.

Imagine programming them to kill all COVID-19 virions!

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#564

Post by worik » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 3:01 AM UTC

TwoBit wrote: post #526

Jemaclus wrote: post #443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Related to this, I'm kind of shocked that there isn't a strong third option for OSes. We've got Windows and MacOS, sure, but the nix ecosystem is so fragmented and not as well supported as the other two that it's hard to justify switching. Like you pointed out, Mac feels premium because of the software/hardware tight coupling, and it just works . Windows is the same, but for reasons can feel less polished than MacOS.…

> shocked that there isn't a strong third option for OSes Why when there is no third OS that has even 1% share and all Linux combined is about 3%. And desktop Linux is bad.

Why is desktop Linux bad?

I use MacOS (whatever it is called this week) Mint and LXDE

Love Mint (typing on it) The Apple OS has a lot of rough corners (e.g. (max/min)imising windows is a world of pain) LXDE is acceptable because it is on my PI and I do not use the desktop much

I have not used Windows desktop for about a decade, has it really gotten that much better?

I am really happy with desktop Linux

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#565

Post by ellis0n » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 3:03 AM UTC

mikewarot wrote: post #456

ellis0n wrote: post #332

I think for developers (and users) everything is broken, just check https://medium.com/message/everything-is-broken-81e5f33a24e1 That's programming 1.0, and we're need programming 2.0 What I mean about programming 2.0: - better security - less bugs and more stability - less complex code and API - less APIs - no halts, reactive live coding everywhere - less coding, NoCode variants PS: Who works on programming 2.0 besi…

It's not the job of application programmers to maintain the security of a system, that is the sole purpose of the operating system. There exist systems which can do the job, but most people haven't even heard of multi-level secure systems, and most people also believe it impossible to secure a computer. The model of trust that everything linux, windows, etc. is based on is faulty. The process is given access to every…

Yeah! Human error is a huge black hole.

We can fix the software (Heartbleed), but the main thing is the hardware (Meltdown)

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#566

Post by spaetzleesser » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 3:04 AM UTC

lmm wrote: post #514

Klonoar wrote: post #379

Premium-feeling laptops that aren't Apple machines. Yes yes, I get the economical barriers. I'm past caring. It is so incredibly frustrating to look outside the Apple ecosystem and feel like the entire PC industry is content to sell the bare minimum of quality (outside of Gamer hardware, which looks obscene - but I get that it's subjective). It's a horrible business idea on the numbers and nobody would do this, but i…

I found the Surface Book had a wonderful premium feel; I went into the shop with a list of specs in mind, and Microsoft was the last manufacturer I'd imagine going with, but it's a powerful machine and also just a beautiful object. Metal case, relatively subtle/classy logo, absolutely beautiful screen, nothing else was compromised for the sake of touch, clean baseline first-party OS. If you really want a premium feel…

I am pretty unhappy with my Surface Book 2. It’s quite slow for its specs and has all kind of problems like “not enough resources for USB”, freezing, the multi display setup gets often messed after undocking and so on. Considering that its in the same price range as a MacBook I am quite disappointed.

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#567

Post by thebrain » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 3:04 AM UTC

Klonoar wrote: post #379

Premium-feeling laptops that aren't Apple machines. Yes yes, I get the economical barriers. I'm past caring. It is so incredibly frustrating to look outside the Apple ecosystem and feel like the entire PC industry is content to sell the bare minimum of quality (outside of Gamer hardware, which looks obscene - but I get that it's subjective). It's a horrible business idea on the numbers and nobody would do this, but i…

I'm not sure about the CoreBoot requirement but I've been pretty impressed by my wife's Microsoft Surface laptop. It's the closest thing to a MacBook you can get.

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#568

Post by worik » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 3:04 AM UTC

NationalPark wrote: post #417

NewLogic wrote: post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The XPS 15 is basically that laptop and is only hamstrung by dell being slow to move to Ryzen 4000 mobile chips. Mobile intel runs hot and slow.

Of the 5 XPS line laptops I've had, 2 had component failures that required replacement under warranty (drives and ports) and one had a hinge that failed just after the warranty ended. As if that weren't frustrating enough, redeeming the warranty required about five hours total of phone conversation per incident. At every step of the way, they would demand I repeat dozens of irrelevant troubleshooting steps, or they w…

Golly. What a horrid story. In my country I think the commerce commission would have their guts for garters if they tried that sort of malarkey.

What jurisdiction is this, that they can get away with not properly honouring warrantees?

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#569

Post by godtoldmetodoit » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 3:04 AM UTC

dkulchenko wrote: post #495

baron816 wrote: post #243

In-person social organizations. Social isolation is probably the biggest cause of unhappiness in advanced countries. Having a strong social network has lots of advantages including providing better romantic and career opportunities, as well as improving physical and psychological health. Humans have a long history of dishing out lots of money to be parts of strong communities too--country clubs and fraternities have…

Agreed. Why is there no Tinder/online dating equivalent for making new friends locally? Instead of dating-specific qualifiers, it'd ask for your interests, hobbies, values, age and other demos, then match you based on overlap. Not Meetup - it's not quite solving the same problem, and so it solves things differently (focusing on shared interests and on discrete meetup events).

My wife met one of her best friends on Bumble BFF - it's the dating app but for friends.

Re: Ask HN: What are you surprised isn’t being worked on more?

#570

Post by dpeck » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 3:07 AM UTC

dkulchenko wrote: post #495

baron816 wrote: post #243

In-person social organizations. Social isolation is probably the biggest cause of unhappiness in advanced countries. Having a strong social network has lots of advantages including providing better romantic and career opportunities, as well as improving physical and psychological health. Humans have a long history of dishing out lots of money to be parts of strong communities too--country clubs and fraternities have…

Agreed. Why is there no Tinder/online dating equivalent for making new friends locally? Instead of dating-specific qualifiers, it'd ask for your interests, hobbies, values, age and other demos, then match you based on overlap. Not Meetup - it's not quite solving the same problem, and so it solves things differently (focusing on shared interests and on discrete meetup events).

Because every time someone builds this it turns into a dating (charitably) app. If there is a way to find sexual partners in a medium, people will do so.